The Fortress of Solitude

[stargazer01]

I love Superman's Fortress of Solitude, but I don't know a lot about it. When was the first time it appeared, how many are there, and what's inside it.

But this place fascinates me. It makes sense that Superman wants to have an special place for himself and to store stuff he finds in his travels/adventures or things that reminds him of his birth planet.

So can we please talk about this place and everything about it?

I miss it in the new movies, but at least the arctic is still a place Clark likes to go to for solitude. I love when I see the FOS in animation and in the comics. It truly is iconic and majestic (like Superman) and I hope to see it again in live action. Wait, we did see a FOS recently in the show Krypton, and it was pretty cool.

Please post pics and tell us what has been your fave FOS and why.

[superduperman]

The first appearance was officially Action #241 in 1958 but he had an earlier version in the forties called a citadel. It was carved into a mountain just outside Metropolis and was more of a mansion than an actual fortress. It had a giant "S" on the front of it. In a way, the fortress was kind of what got me into Superman comics. After he "died" in 1992, I first started getting into Superman and found a copy of Action #452. It had a panel at the end where the villain was dropped into Kandor so the scientists there can try to cure him. And my first thought was "Oh! I didn't know that place from the movies was in the comics!"

My favorite fortress is the pre-Crisis version with all the cool trophies and zoo and weapons and fun stuff. The train, the ship hanging from the ceiling, all the stuff under glass. It looked like a museum. I always found it more interesting than the ice castle from the movies.

[Phoenixx9]

Nice thread, Stargazer01!

I also think it is a great idea for the Fortress, but do not know much about it.

I know at one point, a giant golden "key" was used to open the front door and that there is a zoo of some sort.

[Jim Kelly]

To quote myself:

“The Case of the Second Superman,” SUPERMAN No. 58 (May-June ’49), with art by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye [has] the first appearance of the Fortress of Solitude. There were other secret headquarters shown before this, but this was the first time that such was called “Fortress of Solitude”--and in the arctic at that!

Other sources don't mention this and I stumbled on it only when I was reading the above story. Like others, before that, I had assumed ACTION COMICS 241 was the first use of the term "Fortress of Soltude" for Superman's HQ.

But Doc Savage had a Fortress of Solitude in the arctic, back in the 1930s pulps, long before Superman. So the idea must have been ripped off from Doc (like a lot of other Superman lore).

[Osiris-Rex]

I love Superman's Fortress of Solitude, but I don't know a lot about it. When was the first time it appeared, how many are there, and what's inside it.

But this place fascinates me. It makes sense that Superman wants to have an special place for himself and to store stuff he finds in his travels/adventures or things that reminds him of his birth planet.

So can we please talk about this place and everything about it?

I miss it in the new movies, but at least the arctic is still a place Clark likes to go to for solitude. I love when I see the FOS in animation and in the comics. It truly is iconic and majestic (like Superman) and I hope to see it again in live action. Wait, we did see a FOS recently in the show Krypton, and it was pretty cool.

Please post pics and tell us what has been your fave FOS and why.

The Fortress of Solitude was also shown several times on Supergirl, most recently in the CW Elseworlds crossover.

[Osiris-Rex]

Nice thread, Stargazer01!

I also think it is a great idea for the Fortress, but do not know much about it.

I know at one point, a giant golden "key" was used to open the front door and that there is a zoo of some sort.

Like this key?

vlcsnap-00639.jpg

[Soubhagya]

The Fortress of Solitude is one of my favorite parts of the Superman mythos. Superman is like us, but on a gargantuan scale. We have our own private spaces. For us it maybe a room. For him that's a gigantic fortress in the Arctic. I love it!

Its one of the concepts like the robots which i haven't read much but love anyway. It recently moved to the Bermuda triangle. I like the design. Hopefully, Bendis returns to it sooner then later.




I also liked the Himalayan Fortress of solitude during Lois and Clark miniseries as well as the early Rebirth run. Dude has to have a fortress even when the other dude has his fortress in the arctic. I prefer the rocky Fortress over the more popular Icy fortress. Somehow tonnes of rock feels more sturdier and secure then tonnes of ice. And it feels more homelike.


I also like the initial Fortress in space as depicted in New 52.

[Soubhagya]

Nice thread, Stargazer01!

I also think it is a great idea for the Fortress, but do not know much about it.

I know at one point, a giant golden "key" was used to open the front door and that there is a zoo of some sort.

The first appearance of the key was gigantic. Here's the cover of Action Comics #241.



Morrison gave a clever update.



I am not a big fan of the Fortress in the Donner films. It looked majestic and has inspired almost all Fortress designs afterwards. But where is the door? Its not practical! What's the use of a Fortress if you can simply walk in? I think that's sillier then even the gigantic key.

[Vordan]

I like the Fortress a lot but I wish we’d see a more consistent use of it in the comics. Rarely do artists carry over apparences from previous runs, so stuff like trophies from past stories like what Batman has don’t appear. I’d also like if Supes kept old costumes in storage, again similar to what Batman has. I really like the galactic zoo full of last survivors of species, that to me is a great touch.

[Jim Kelly]

The Fortress of Solitude is in Canada. Giant versions of objects is a thing in Canada--we travel great distances to see them--giant egg, giant nickel, giant hockey stick, giant moose, giant inukshuk, giant honey bee, giant flag, giant milk bottle. A giant key is not out of place in our landscape. Please don't take away Canada's fictional giant key with your unyielding logic.

[Kuwagaton]

It was kind sorta an American thing, too. Maybe it's just me but you don't really hear about people being into those tourist sites anymore.

I like the warmer iterations of the fortress. The Bermuda location is super cool but the bleak and jagged design makes it the least friendly version so far. I already thought the standard Donner version looked too empty. The traditional pre crisis is cool but to illustrate my point:

Post Crisis
https://imgur.com/a/rPzuRkK

Or



The important things to me are remarkable Kryptonian artifacts, differently purposed rooms, the impression that he can do a combo of relaxing/researching, and that should it come under attack, you'd be dealing with Superman at his most resourceful. It's not the "skating rink of solitude," you know? I think the citadel is really great. I like the warm inside and outside. The South American fortress was a pretty cool blend of the Arctic fortress and the citadel. The tesseract fortress... I dunno, was it too cool to last? Brilliant design that came and went.

[Jim Kelly]

The first appearance of the key was gigantic. Here's the cover of Action Comics #241.

The key looks like that on the cover, but inside the comic it has its regular appearance, which is how Batman is able to get inside the Fortress.

[stargazer01]

The important things to me are remarkable Kryptonian artifacts, differently purposed rooms, the impression that he can do a combo of relaxing/researching, and that should it come under attack, you'd be dealing with Superman at his most resourceful. It's not the "skating rink of solitude," you know?

I agree. I love that the animated movies show the FOS as so much more than just a place to be alone. It's a laboratory to research stuff, a house to live in, and a literal Fortress to be safe from danger. I wish the live action movies/shows did more with all that in the future. The FOS of Solitude really is iconic and popular in the Superman mythos thanks to Donner. Everybody knows about it, and it should not be lost. I think it's a very cool part of the Superman mythos. I'm glad the show Krypton is using the concept. Supergirl too, but I don't like that show..

Also, I like the ice/crystal FOS from the movies, but the rocky one is also awesome. Is the rocky FOS from the comics made by Superman himself? I suppose so. I think I like a mix of both..


And where exactly in the Bermuda Triangle is the new FOS? Inside the ocean?

[Kuwagaton]

I think all of the fortresses between Donner and making his own Fortress before Rebirth have been developed by automated Kryptonian systems. I remember him having a more active hand in South America and John Henry helped with the tesseract.

The Bermuda triangle fortress is on top of the ocean, so I'm sure it has some kinda protection against discovery.

Funny enough Supergirl had her own fortress deep undersea but it was abandoned.

[Soubhagya]

The key looks like that on the cover, but inside the comic it has its regular appearance, which is how Batman is able to get inside the Fortress.

That's true. But the cover is awesome.

Did they shrink the key later? I found this on the internet.